ENGLISH PREMIER BETTING PICK - ARSENAL V STOKE CITY

English Premier

2013-02-02 - Arsenal vs Stoke City

A Sports Betting Pick by Addicted

ARSENAL v STOKE CITY
Football : England : Premier League
Saturday, 2nd February, 2013, 3:00PM GMT

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PREVIEW

The transfer period has ended and Arsenal ended up signing just the 1 player, although it looks to be a solid, much needed addition. While the offence has shown signs of rapid improvement, with Giroud scoring at will these days and Walcott ever more confident and always providing goals, the defence has been guilty of allowing illy goals in every game. Spanish defender Nacho, signed from Malaga, can perhaps provide some help there.

The Arsenal offence has had no trouble here scoring a boatload against weaker teams, netting 7 against Newcastle and most recently 5 against West Ham. Even Liverpool were not allowed to hang on to their 2-0 lead. The problem is the defence. They've allowed Manchester City to score early, West Ham to get ahead and then Liverpool too. Away, they allowed Chelsea to take a lead and twice allowed Brighton back in the game. Not all games can be rescued, and so it was against Liverpool in a game Arsenal should have won at home on the strength of their offence.

Anyway, 6th placed Arsenal need to win here, because they've missed a chance to close the gap with Tottenham and Chelsea, who drew at Norwich and Reading respectively. Arsenal are now 8 behind Chelsea, who are 3rd, and 4 behind Tottenham, who are 4th. And let's not forget Everton, who are 5th and 3 points clear of the Gunners. There is work to be done, and more points dropped at home will see their final stretch of the season prove too much.

Stoke sit 10th, but are on a poor run, having not won any of their last 3 games. Having had such good home form, they've recently lost 4-0 to Chelsea, 1-0 to Man City and drawn 2-2 with Wigan. Away, they were thrashed 3-1 at Swansea. I fear their defence will not be able to handle this Arsenal offence, which should be able to score at least 2, possibly 3 goals against them.

So do Arsenal keep on conceding? I'm not so sure. I think the rot gets stopped in this match. The new signing is a boost, while the keeper and his defenders will have been read the riot act for their poor performances against Liverpool. They simply have to be tighter than what they are if they want to keep playing Champions League footie next season.

BETTING VERDICT

I think Arsenal win this, but am torn for a bet. Do I take them to win to nil, or keep faith in the offence to do enough to cover the spread?

Best stick with the latter, in case we end up with a 4-1 type result.

The Statistics :

The Pick :

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